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Monthly Archives: July 2013

I’m having my college trunk party this weekend and I wanted to share the steps I took to plan the party.

Step 1: Picking the date

Ideally you want to choose a date that is 2-3 weeks before your move in date, so that you have time to purchase any last minute things that you will need (or want!). This might be a given, but you should plan for your party to be on a weekend because even though you are out of school, other people have work and other commitments on the weekdays.

Step 2: Create your dorm registry

Registries aren’t just for babies and weddings anymore, many stores now offer them for college dorm room shopping. Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Walmart, and The Container Store are just a few that offer this service. All you have to do is select the items you need and add them to your list. Also, I wanted to register at Target, but I saw that they didn’t have a dorm registry, but instead you can sign up for a Target List, it works the same way.

Step 3: Get and send the invitations

Now that you’ve chosen a date and made a dorm registry, it’s time to spread the word about the party. When I was about to send my invitations, I went to my local Walgreens, but they did not have any invitation cards at all, so I decided to make my own. I attached mine here, (Trunk party invitations) but please be aware this is a very simple design. If you are looking for something fancier, try zazzle.com or Google search trunk party invitations. Don’t forget to put where you are registered on your invitation so that people will know.

Step 4: Set up the party and have fun

The day of the party, set up an area where guests can leave gifts, and an area for the food. Now, just wait for the guests to arrive and have fun!

Yes, you read the title correctly. On Monday nights, many of us give in to our guilty pleasure of watching Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, and last night was no different. Judging by reactions on twitter, people are appalled by Kirk Frost’s actions towards his wife, Rasheeda (for those of you who don’t know, he cheated on his pregnant wife on national television). This is a prime example of how not being in control of your brand can be detrimental.What can we learn from Kirk?
Though we aren’t on a reality show like Kirk, we do have social media and share aspects of our lives on these sites for others to see, so we can learn from his mistake: think before you post. When you have a personal brand, everything you tweet, post, and share is a reflection on you. So instead of posting that picture of you drinking at a bar, post a picture of yourself at a networking event. Not sure if something is appropriate to post or not? Use this tip from Emmelie De La Cruz, a personal branding consultant and someone who I admire, “if you wouldn’t say it [or show it] to your boss, then don’t post it”.
It is not uncommon for employers to check their employees social media channels, and many people have been fired for posting inappropriate content. Also, one of the the most important things for building your brand is consistency, and if you are trying to build a personal brand, but occasionally post inappropriate content, people won’t know what to expect from you and are less likely to follow your brand.

Do you have any questions? Leave them in the comment section below, or chat with me on twitter @tiaj42

I always see people using social media the wrong way (more on that later), so I decided to create a series of posts that will feature a different social media site each week, and I will tell you how to use it to promote your brand. This week is all about twitter.

What is twitter?

Twitter is a social media site that allows you to make posts (called tweets) of up to 140 characters, share links and photos, and participate in conversations (called twitter chats) using hashtags.

How do I use it?

You can use twitter to network, promote your brand, or even get a job!NetworkingThere are so many influential people on twitter that you can connect with by simply using the search feature. You type in the field you are interested in, and a list of twitter users that talk about that field will be listed. Then you look through their timeline and see if it is someone who you want to follow. Don’t forget to reach out to them and make a connection (e.x. “hey (insert twitter name here) your tweets are so inspirational because I want to be in the (enter your career/ interest field here) industry” and you build a relationship from there. But remember, building relationships take work so remember to keep reaching out to the person to keep in contact.Personal brandingYour twitter page is a reflection of your brand so you want to make sure it is sending the message you want to send. You can use twitter to tweet breaking news in your industry, articles written about it, or any advice you may have. Also, don’t feel that you need to be 100% professional, if you do, you run the risk of sounding stiff and fake. When people follow your brand, they want to know about you as a person too, but make sure what you share about your personal life is appropriate. Try to maintain at least a 70% professional to 30% personal ratio in your tweets.
Finding a jobI’ve heard of people who have gotten hired from twitter read this article about it and I’m going to give you some tips that may help you.
1. Do a twitter search of the industry you want to work in (#finance, #sales, #advertising, etc)
2. Make a list of companies you want to work for and follow the company’s page, the CEO’s page, and, if you can, the person doing the hiring. This is extra but you can try to find a person working in the position you desire you to be in, so you can get an idea of what they do. Following these people will help you find out when they are hiring, and you can even tweet them and build connections like we discussed.
3. Tweet about you skills, share interesting articles, and interact with people, which is what you are already doing if you are promoting your brand correctly.
I hope you’ve learned something new about twitter, and if you have any questions, leave them in the comments section below.